Polyfluorinated monomers are used in the preparation of a wide variety of fluoropolymers and fluoroelastomers useful as surface protection agents to treat substrates to provide various surface effects to the substrates. Such surface protection agents include oil- and water repellents, non-soiling agents, non-stick agents, surfactants and other treating agents. The surface protection business essentially relies on fluorinated intermediates to prepare such surface protection agents.
The copolymerization of tetrafluoroethylene and ethylene is commercially used for the production of copolymers with a predominately alternating tetrafluoroethylene and ethylene structure such as TEFZEL, (a registered trademark of E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company), a fluoropolymer of high molecular weight of about 10,000 to about 200,000. U.S. Pat. No. 3,956,000 discloses the telomerization of perfluoroethyl iodide or 1,2-diodotetrafluoroethylene with tetrafluoroethylene, and optionally with a lesser amount of chlorotrifluoroethylene, bromotrifluoroethylene, iodotrifluoroethylene, hexafluoropropylene, 1,1-difluoroethylene or ethylene, to make fluorocarbon waxes with a molecular weight of 10,000 to 200,000 by use of an emulsion process using a purely aqueous phase as the reaction media while applying specific stirring energy. Using up to 15% of telogen and at least 85% olefins is disclosed. This technology does not permit useful oligomeric iodides with a molecular weight less than 2,000. This patent does not disclose oligomerization of tetrafluoroethylene and ethylene to produce short-chain oligomeric iodides or other useful oligomeric derivatives.
Customer requirements for intermediates for surface protection products are in a state of constant evolution, and there is a continuing need for new cost-effective, environmentally friendly chemical intermediates and products. Industry is constantly searching for compounds with minimum environmental impact and higher fluorine efficiency. In particular there is a need for short chain fluorochemicals wherein some of the expensive fluorocarbon moieties have been replaced with less expensive and more readily biodegradable moieties. The present invention provides such fluorochemicals.